Oak  Street 
UNCLASSIFIED 


H nwvwuya 

■im,  uiAjuaM^aaoI  2c»W.  . - 
'u/y&  d'eZw&wd  ;to  jt^v&  S'0ivuyi/ t L/ix/o4> 
;>?,  CiAulo^U'e/b  ^ ireo-t-O'  S^iyt^rimn.  - , 

©n  e^t  e.  §mpfo. 


VALUE 


OF  THE 


STUDY  OF  CHURCH 'HISTORY 

IN 


MINISTERIAL  EDUCATION. 


A LECTURE 

DELIVERED  TO  THE 

SENIOR  CLASS  OF  ANDOVER  THEOLOSICAL  SEMINARY, 

BY 

EGBERT  C.  SMYTH. 


PUBLISHED  BY  REQUEST  OF  THE  CLASS. 


ANDOVER: 

PUBLISHED  BY  WARREN  F.  DRAPER. 
1874. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2016  with  funding  from 

University  of  Illinois  Urbana-Champaign  Alternates 


https://archive.org/details/valueofstudyofchOOsmyt 


/d  7}ju 


LECTURE. 


I am  to  speak  to  you  of  the  Value,  of  the  Study  of  Ecclesi- 
astical History  to  the  Christian  Minister.  This  topic  natu- 
rally arises  for  discussion  in  the  Introductory  Lectures  which 
are  now  delivered  in  the  Junior  Year.  It  will  be  considered, 
on  this  occasion,  in  its  immediate  and  practical,  rather  than 
in  its  scientific,  relations. 

Such  a method  has  this  infelicity.  It  puts  the  speaker  in 
the  position  of  a pleader  for  his  department  of  instruction. 
Let  me  say  then  frankly,  at  the  start:  — I would  prize  more, 
as  an  argument  for  the  study  of  History,  the  results  in  your 
own  experience  of  six  months  actual  work  than  any  conside- 
rations I can  possibly  offer.  History  is  a general  word,  which 
covers  all  the  thought  and  life  of  the  Church  of  Christ  for 
eighteen  centuries.  To  plead  for  its  study  seems  to  me  like 
urging  you  to  be  scholars,  or  to  be  wise,  or  to  exercise 
common  sense.  And  then,  so  great  a theme  has  so  many 
relations  and  uses  that,  were  I to  mention  all  that  occur  to 
me,  I might  easily  omit  the  special  advantages  you  would 
discover  for  yourselves  by  the  study,  and  the  ones  that  would 
most  incite  you  to  its  prosecution.  If,  however,  by  my  not 
happening  to  allude  to  these  benefits,  you  were  to  conclude 
that  you  can  wisely  rank  historical  studies  with  those  which 
are  of  no  immediate  and  urgent  importance,  and  if  thus  you 
should  fail  of  discovering  for  yourselves  their  value,  this 
Address  would  do  you  more  harm  than  good. 

Let  me  not,  then,  be  supposed  by  any  one  to  be  resting  my 
cause  on  this  Lecture.  So  far  as  it  is  a plea,  let  its  general 
argument  be  this  : — If  History  can  do  for  a man  what  is  now 
to  be  indicated,  it  can  do  a great  deal  more  which  is  not 
even  hinted  at. 


4 


The  study  of  Ecclesiastical  History,  I premise,  has  been  at 
a certain  disadvantage  from  several  causes. 

As  an  independent  and  co-ordinate  element  of  ministerial 
training  it  is  of  comparatively  recent  origin . I refer,  in  this 
remark,  to  our  own  methods  and  practices,  not  to  those  of 
the  Church  at  large.  At  the  beginning  of  this  century  the 
chief  theological  discipline  of  New  England  clergymen  was 
gained  by  the  study  of  Dogmatic  Divinity.  The  founders  of 
Andover  Seminary  aimed  at  a much  more  liberal  and  sys- 
tematic culture.  The  Constitution  which  they  adopted  con- 
tains a scheme  of  ministerial  training  very  remarkable  for 
its  scope  and  intent.  Pupils  are  required  to  reside  at  the 
Seminary  three  full  years,  vacations  excepted  ; 44  a period,” 
it  is  significantly  added,  44  scarcely  sufficient  for  acquiring 
that  fund  of  knowledge  which  is  necessary  for  a minister  of 
the  Gospel.”  Important  topics  of  public  instruction  are 
specified  which  have  not  yet  found  a place  in  our  curriculum, 
and  which  are  not  likely  to,  without  an  extension  of  the  time 
of  study.  In  this  broad  and  generous  plan  the  department 
of  Ecclesiastical  History  finds  fitting  recognition.  But  its 
definite  establishment  came  slowly  and  in  a limited  way. 
Its  history  is  a reflection  and  illustration  of  the  estimate 
which  has  generally  been  put  upon  the  value  of  historical 
studies  in  the  education  of  Christian  ministers.  At  the 
start  (1808),  the  Seminary  was  provided  with  instruction  in 
Dogmatic  Theology  and  Sacred  Literature.  The  following 
year  (1809),  a Professor  of  Sacred  Rhetoric  was  appointed. 
Ten  years  later,  an  44  additional  Professor”  of  Rhetoric  was 
chosen ; owing,  I suppose,  to  the  feeble  health  of  the  Bartlet 
Professor,  Rev.  Dr.  Porter.  In  1821,  an  assistant  teacher  was 
chosen  in  Biblical  studies,  and  this  was  followed  by  other 
elections,  and  by  the  appointment  of  a Professor  of  Hebrew. 
The  44  primary  duties  ” of  the  new  Professor  of  Rhetoric  were 
defined  to  be  in  this  department.  He  was,  however,  to  give 
instruction  in  Ecclesiastical  History  44  so  far  as  leisure  and 
opportunity  might  permit.”  Not  until  1824,  was  there  a 
Professorship  of  History.  It  did  not  then  stand  alone,  but 


5 


was  connected  with  Pastoral  Theology,  and  the  criticism  of 
sermons.  The  earlier  elections  to  the  Brown  Professorship 
of  History,  I am  informed,  had  special  reference  to  the  qualifica- 
tions of  the  candidates  to  give  instruction  in  Pastoral  Theology. 
Down  to  1853,  this  study  divided  the  Summer  Term  of  the 
Senior  Year  with  Homiletics.  The  proportion  of  time  allotted 
to  the  several  departments,  omitting  voluntary  exercises,  was, 
for  the  entire  course,  as  follows:  one  third  to  Sacred  Litera- 
ture, one  third  to  Dogmatic  Theology,  one  sixth  to  Sacred 
Rhetoric,  one  ninth  to  Church  History,  one  eighteenth  to 
Pastoral  Theology.  As  respects  History,  the  actual  distribu- 
tion, with  the  majority  of  students,  is  believed  to  have  fallen 
short  of  the  proportion  which  has  been  stated.  During  Rev. 
Dr.  Shedd’s  connection  with  the  Seminary,  historical  studies 
were  carried  into  the  last  term  of  the  course.  In  1868, 
Pastoral  Theology  was  transferred  to  Rev.  Dr.  Taylor,  Smith 
Professor  of  Theology  and  Homiletics  in  the  Special  Course. 
In  1871  — in  view  of  a recommendation  from  the  Faculty  of 
the  Seminary,  that  a larger  share  of  time  be  granted  to  the 
Historical  Department  “ because  of  the  great  changes  in  its 
relation  to  Theological  training  which  have  taken  place  in 
the  last  twenty  years”  — the  Board  of  Trustees  voted  unan- 
imously to  extend  the  study  of  History  to  the  two  preced- 
ing years.  In  some  other  Seminaries  a similar  advance 
was  made  earlier.  Yet  the  correctness  of  the  impression 
made  by  the  foregoing  statements  respecting  the  position  of 
History  in  the  training  of  New  England  ministers,  will  not, 
I think,  be  questioned.  Relatively  to  other  departments  it 
has  had  an  inferior  place  and  influence.  Here  and  there,  by 
virtue  of  a natural  taste  for  the  study,  or  some  special  advan- 
tages of  culture,  or  other  reasons  extrinsic  to  the  Seminary 
influence,  historical  studies  have  received  an  exceptional 
attention.  But,  in  general,  the  pastors  of  New  England  have 
not  been  at  home  in  the  History  of  the  Church,  as  they  have 
been  in  either  the  Bible  or  the  New  England  Theology ; nor 
could  this  be  expected.  I am  not  surprised,  therefore,  when 
one  student  and  another,  coming  back  from  an  excursion  for 


6 


a Sabbath’s  preaching,  reports  that  he  finds  Christian  minis- 
ters who  make,  as  he  judges,  very  little  use  of  History  in 
their  labors.  Nor  is  it  strange  that  for  him  the  inference, 
like  sin,  lies  at  the  door, — if  these  most  valued  and  successful 
pastors  get  on  so  well  without  this  most  toilsome  study,  so 
can  I.  Any  one  who  observes  what  excellent  and  noble  work 
they  have  done  might  be  tempted  to  argue  that  an  instrument 
of  which  they  make  so  little  use  cannot  be  very  important. 

Closely  connected  witli  the  fact  to  which  I have  just 
alluded,  and  in  part  explaining  it,  is  another,  which  likewise 
operates  to  the  disadvantage  of  historical  study.  I refer  to 
the  deficiency  of  convenient , and  even  necessary , aids  for  its 
prosecution.  Our  libraries  have  been  lamentably  deficient  in 
the  works  necessary  for  independent  investigation.  Having 
occasion,  a few  years  since,  to  trace  through  the  sixteenth 
and  seventeenth  centuries  the  history  of  opinion  respecting  a 
question  which  has  been  specially  prominent  in  our  doctrinal 
controversies,  I prepared  a list  of  the  leading  theological 
writers  during  the  time  mentioned,  and  took  it  to  our  Library. 
The  authors  in  question,  were  systematic  theologians, — 
each  best  known  by  his  Loci,  or  Systema,  or  Compendium, 
or  Corpus,  or  Panstratia,  or  Cursus,  or  Medulla,  or  Medulla 
Medullae,  or  something  of  the  kind.  I found  many  a com- 
mentary from  these  divines  on  our  shelves,  but  their  dogmatic 
works  were  few  and  far  between.  Our  accomplished  and  in- 
defatigable Librarian  could  tell  you,  if  he  were  ever  disposed 
to  speak  of  his  own  labors,  what  effort  has  been  expended  to 
fill  up  such  lacunae. 

Beside  this  difficulty  arising  from  the  deficiencies  of  our 
public  collections,  has  been  the  lack  of  reasonably  cheap  and 
convenient  editions  and  translations  of  the  more  important 
writings  of  the  fathers  and  doctors  of  the  church,  of  his- 
torical theological  encyclopaedias,  of  thorough  monographs, 
and  even,  until  lately,  of  general  histories  of  Christian 
doctrine  and  life  which  would  at  once  stimulate  and  reward 
earnest  study.  How  few  private  libraries  have  contained 
any  tolerable  apparatus  for  patristic  studies.  The  requisite 


7 


aids  have  been  out  of  reach.  A vast  amount  of  work,  in 
addition  to  that  already  expended  during  the  last  twenty-five 
years,  needs  still  to  be  done  to  lighten  these  disabilities. 
And,  in  addition  to  the  literary  labor  which  is  required, 
parishes  need  to  be  awakened  to  the  importance  of  providing 
Pastors’  Libraries.  Not  long  since  a recent  graduate  of  this 
Seminary  called  here,  on  his  way  to  Boston,  with  a com- 
fortable sum  of  money  in  his  wallet,  bequeathed  to  the  parish 
over  which  he  was  settled  for  the  purpose  I have  just  named; 
and  there  was,  he  said,  a fund  besides  to  yield  an  annual 
income.  Would  that  such  gifts  were  more  frequent!  What- 
ever may  be  thought  of  parish  funds  to  pay  the  salaries  of 
ministers,  there  can  be  no  objection  to  aid  of  this  sort.  And 
it  is  sorely  needed. 

I will  allude  to  but  one  other  reason  why  historical  studies 
have  not  been  more  generally  appreciated  and  helpful  — our 
past  isolation  and  the  habits  this  has  engendered . A mis- 
sionary who  goes  to  Armenia,  or  Syria,  or  Greece,  or  Egypt, 
or  Austria,  soon  finds  that  he  must  study  Church  History. 
He  is  everywhere  confronted  by  organizations  which  pre- 
serve the  forms  and  traditions  of  mediaeval,  or  of  a still 
more  ancient  Christianity.  The  past  is  before  him.  How 
different  it  has  been  here.  Not  needing  History  for  contro- 
versial or  aggressive  purposes,  we  have  easily  lost  sight  of 
other  ends.  And  then,  having  put  the  Atlantic  Ocean  be- 
tween us  and  so  many  abuses  of  authority,  we  have  felt 
a little  shy  of  anything  that  might  convince  us  of  its  uses. 
We  have  felt  that  the  future,  rather  than  the  past,  was 
ours,  and  that  life  here  was  beginning  anew.  It  has  been 
almost  as  easy  to  undervalue  History  as  it  has  been  difficult 
to  acquire  it. 

These  causes  are  rapidly  passing  away.  About  the  middle 
of  this  century,  a new  and  powerful  impulse  was  given  to  the 
study  of  Church  History  in  our  theological  schools.  Three 
men  deserve  special  mention  for  their  part  in  this  movement : 
— Dr.  Henry  B.  Smith,  a pupil  of  Neander,  and  an  inheritor 
of  his  catholic  spirit,  who  was  placed  in  the  chair  of  Eccle- 


8 


siastical  History  in  Union  Theological  Seminary,  New  York, 
in  1850;  Dr.  Shedd,  who  began  here,  in  1858,  the  delivery 
of  Lectures  on  the  Philosophy  of  History  and  the  History  of 
Doctrines,  which  were  received  with  enthusiasm,  and  have 
since  been  published ; and  Dr.  Scliaff,  who  had  sat  under 
the  instructions  of  the  leaders  of  the  great  historical  schools 
of  Germany — Baur,  Neander,  and  Dorner — and  commenced, 
in  1853,  the  publication,  in  its  English  form,  of  his  own 
attractive  and  valuable  History  of  the  Apostolic  and  Ancient 
Church.  Others  — as  Professor  Torrey,  by  his  translation  of 
Neander’s  General  History  of  the  Christian  Religion  and 
Church,  Dr.  Joseph  Addison  Alexander  at  Princeton,  and 
more  recently  Dr.  Fisher  at  New  Haven  — have  contributed 
influentially  to  the  same  movement.  The  result  is,  that  in 
all  our  Theological  Seminaries  there  has  been  awakened  an 
interest  in  historical  studies  which  is  full  of  promise.  Our 
Libraries,  also,  are  rapidly  improving.  The  antiquarian 
bookstores  of  the  Old  World  are  frequented  by  no  more 
curious  and  eager  purchasers  than  those  who  come  from 
“ America”- — as  Europeans  call  our  country.  Incentives 
and  helps  to  these  studies  are  rapidly  multiplying  in  other 
ways>  Within  seven  years,  nearly  all  the  extant  works  of 
the  Fathers  down  to  the  Council  of  Nicaea,  together  with 
several  volumes  of  Augustine’s  writings,  have  been  published 
in  English  translations.  Our  Methodist  brethren,  greatly  to 
their  credit,  are  supplying  us  with  a Theological  Cyclopaedia 
in  which  Church  History  and  Religious  Biography  occupy  a 
prominent  place.  The  best  work  of  foreign  scholars  in 
these  departments  is  enriching,  in  multiplied  ways,  our  own 
literature.  We  are  coming,  also,  into  much  freer  and  more 
intimate  relations  to  the  older  Christian  communions,  and 
to  the  institutions  and  customs  of  the  lands  where  they  have 
flourished.  We  are  discovering  that  democracy  and  the 
nineteenth  century  alone  cannot  save  the  republic  which  is 
so  dear  to  us.  There  is  an  increasing  disposition  to  take 
counsel  of  experience,  to  learn  of  the  past.  Culture  is  more 
widely  diffused,  is  becoming  more  comprehensive  in  its  plans 


9 


and  aims,  and  is  more  highly  prized.  Some  men  every  year 
find  out  that  there  are  new  sources  of  inspiration  and  power 
in  the  rich  appropriations  of  Christ’s  teachings  which  pious 
souls  and  powerful  churches  have  made  in  the  past ; and 
such  ministers  will  soon  shame,  if  they  do  not  stimulate, 
their  less  enterprising  brethren.  I would  not  stand  sponsor 
for  the  position  and  influence  of  a clergyman,  in  an  educated 
community,  twenty  years  from  now,  who  has  acted  on  the 
principle  that,  because  his  father  was  an  efficient  preacher 
and  pastor  without  History,  he  can  neglect  it.  His  father 
was  the  peer  of  his  brethren  in  the  ministry,  and  a leader  of 
his  flock.  He  will  be,  at  best,  a degenerate  vine  without 
much  root  — a sort  of  black  sheep,  and  with  not  much  of  a 
fleece  at  that. 

I speak  thus  confidently,  because  I see  clearly  that  the 
causes  which  have  hitherto  made  History  of  so  little  account 
in  the  studies  and  aids  of  a Christian  minister  are  fast  passing 
away.  History  now  can  be  studied  on  a broad  scale,  and 
can  be  more  liberally  and  effectively  used.  In  such  a state 
of  the  case,  the  masculine,  the  energetic,  the  more  thoughtful 
minds  will  avail  themselves  of  its  treasures,  and  the  rest  will 
go  where  weaklings  must.  I say  these  things,  also,  because 
of  my  conviction  of  the  Worth  of  History  when  studied  and 
used. 

This  I wish  now  to  impress. 

I.  The  study  of  Ecclesiastical  History  is  an  indispensable 
aid  in  the  mastery  of  Christian  Doctrine . 

In  all  our  Seminaries  there  are  chairs  of  Dogmatic  and 
Polemic  Theology.  These  have  usually  been  filled  by  men 
of  superior  ability.  Theology  is  inculcated  in  its  most 
attractive  and  effective  forms.  The  student  looks  for,  and 
receives,  the  last  statements  which  the  science  has  reached  — 
so  far,  at  least,  as  the  ability  of  the  lecturer  is  equal  to  his 
task.  It  is  a very  natural  impression,  therefore,  that  one’s 
note-book  contains,  in  a condensed  and  useful  shape,  the 
conclusions  of  the  best  wisdom  of  the  Church,  the  ripened 
2 


10 


fruit  of  all  past  theologic  thinking.  To  this  conclusion  I 
raise  no  objection,  but  only  to  one  to  which  it  is  a stepping- 
stone.  The  study  of  Theology,  it  is  sometimes  inferred,  may, 
for  practical  purposes,  at  least,  be  reduced  to  the  mastery  of 
the  latest  system.  When  Eschatology,  accordingly,  is  com- 
pleted in  the  dogmatic  course  some  students  appear  to  feel 
that  they  have  reached  the  last  things  of  Christian  Theology. 
Here  is  the  high-water  mark.  What  use  is  it  to  wade  in 
the  shallows  of  the  Apostolic  Fathers ; or  stick  and  broil  on 
the  flats  of  monkish  stupidity ; or  be  whirled  about,  if  not 
engulfed,  in  the  circlings  and  subtleties  of  Mediaeval  scho- 
lasticism ; or  why  take  Luther,  or  Calvin,  or  Edwards,  for  a 
pilot,  when  it  is  evident  that  they  all  made  great  mistakes? 
Theological  navigation  is  now  a much  more  perfect  science 
than  in  their  time ; we  have  our  improved  charts  and  com- 
passes, and  chronometers  regulated  by  the  last  observations, 
and  all  our  sailing  directions  in  our  note-books,  as  exact 
and  perfect  as  a table  of  logarithims,  and  — uso  convenient”  ! 
Well,  it’s  something  to  see  a tide  come  in,  if  we  do  know 
beforehand  how  far  it  is  coming.  It  is  something  to  learn 
how  to  make  a chart,  as  well  as  how  to  use  a perfect  one. 
It  is  much  to  know  a science  in  its  principles,  in  its  sources, 
in  its  various  methods,  as  well  as  in  its  formulas  and  rules. 
It  is  more  to  gain,  as  a personal  possession  and  power,  a 
love  of  investigation,  a habit  of  testing  affirmed  results,  the 
genuine  philosophic  spirit  which  seeks  to  know  not  only  that 
a thing  is,  but  how  it  became  so. 

There  are  two  ways,  it  has  been  said,  of  studying  a science. 
One  method  is,  to  study  it  in  its  abstract  propositions,  or  its 
final  statements.  The  other  is,  to  study  it  in  its  growth. 
Both  methods  are  necessary.  For  our  present  purpose  it  is 
needful  only  to  show  the  necessity  of  the  historical  method. 

It  lies  in  this  fact : The  last  statements  of  Christian  science 
are  the  result  of  a historical  process , apart  from  which  they 
cannot  he  thoroughly  understood . 

Even  the  most  common  words  we  use  are  better  under- 
stood by  us  if  we  know  their  derivation  and  history.  We 


11 


need  to  know  this  if  we  are  to  know  them  thoroughly. 
There  is  always  a tendency  in  language,  as  it  becomes  old,  to 
lose  its  specificness  and  individuality.  Niebuhr,  in  his  last 
sickness,  amused  himself  with  putting  into  a few  exact 
sentences  the  thoughts  which  Cooper  has  spread  over  pages. 
Much  of  the  matter  which  daily  issues  from  the  press  might 
be  translated  into  different  words,  and  the  meaning  lose 
nothing  by  the  change  either  in  clearness  or  fulness.  We 
have,  in  reading,  the  Irishman’s  feeling,  that  “ one  word  is 
as  good  as  another,  and  indeed  a good  deal  better.”  In 
order  to  appreciate  the  precise  meaning  of  a word  we  need 
to  learn  its  origin  and  history.  It  is  so  with  religious,  with 
theological  words,  no  less  surely  than  with  all  others.  And 
when  these  have  become  the  formulas  of  theological  science, 
the  signs  and  monuments  of  its  progress,  the  crystallization 
of  centuries  of  agitation,  much  more  do  they  need  to  be 
interpreted  in  connection  with  the  whole  preceding  movement. 
Take  the  words  Nature,  Person,  Covenant,  Imputation, 
Atonement.  Each  has  a history.  Each,  to  be  appreciated, 
needs  to  be  looked  at  in  the  light  of  its  history.  The  fulness 
of  meaning  in  such  terms,  their  various  relations,  cannot  be 
comprehended  without  an  acquaintance  with  their  origin 
and  growth. 

The  argument  increases  in  force  as  we  pass  from  single 
words  to  literature,  from  language  to  the  productions  of 
poetic  genius  or  philosophic  insight  and  reflection. 

No  one  among  us  would  think  now  of  studying  any  cele- 
brated work  in  English  Literature  apart  from  its  historical 
connections.  No  poets  have  been  more  truly  original  and 
independent  than  Chaucer,  Spenser,  Shakespeare,  Milton, 
Cowper,  Wordsworth.  Yet  Chaucer  must  be  studied  in 
connection  with  the  Italian,  as  well  as  the  Saxon  and  English 
poets  who  preceded  him.  Spenser  delights  to  confess  Chaucer 
to  be  his  master.  Shakespeare  is  not  ashamed  to  say  how 
dear  he  was  to  him.  Milton  lays  a leaf  upon  the  graves  of 
each  of  those  who  had  gone  before  him,  and  dares  be  known 
to  think  sage  Spenser  a better  teacher  than  Scotus  or 


12 


Aquinas.  Chaucer  and  the  Ballads  gave  direction  to  the 
genius  of  Cowper,  and  the  poetry  of  By  dal  Mount  and  the 
Lakes  took  its  rise  from  the  publication  of  Percy’s  Reliques 
of  Ancient  Poetry.  What  work  seemingly  stands  alone  and 
apart,  like  the  Paradise  Lost  of  Milton  ? Wordsworth’s  line 
respecting  its  author, 

“ Thy  soul  was  like  a Star,  and  dwelt  apart,” 
expresses  the  common  feeling.  Yet  that  work  is  not  the 
product  of  one  age  or  one  mind  alone,  though  it  has  the 
stamp  of  both.  It  lays  under  contribution  the  collected 
wisdom  of  centuries  of  thought  and  toil,  “ the  seasoned  life 
of  man  ” in  all  ages  “ preserved  and  stored  up  in  books.” 
“ The  old  and  elegant  humanity  of  Greece,”  the  imperial 
majesty  of  Rome,  the  wisdom  and  fervor  of  Hebrew  prophets, 
the  u barbaric  pride  of  Hunnish  and  Norwegian  stateliness,” 
the  chivalric  splendor  and  magnificence  of  the  Norman, — 
all  mingle  and  flow  in  a deep,  continuous  stream.  He  who 
would  enter  into  its  composition  needs  the  broadest  historical 
culture. 

The  same  requisite  obtains  no  less  in  respect  to  any  great 
theological  system.  Every  such  system  appropriates  the 
results  of  preceding  movements.  It  draws  from  accumulated 
stores  of  exegesis.  It  uses  some  philosophical  method,  much 
of  which  has  been  previously  elaborated.  It  has  a histori- 
cal genesis.  Something  in  the  times  in  which  the  author 
lives  — something  which  has  a history  — calls  it  into  being. 
We  may  take  any  system,  at  any  point  of  the  history  — we 
may  take  Augustine’s  statements,  or  Calvin’s,  or  Edwards’s, 
or  Emmons’s,  or  Dr.  Taylor’s,  — no  matter  how  independent 
the  maker,  or  how  self-consistent,  determinate,  and  explained 
the  system,  it  has  received  far  more  than  it  has  originated ; its 
historical  materials  are  its  largest  part ; and  what  is  peculiar 
in  it  is  so  relatively,  and  to  be  appreciated  needs  to  be  com- 
pared with  that  from  which  it  differs.  Augustine’s  theo- 
logical influence  has  rarely,  if  ever,  been  equalled.  His 
mind  was  pre-eminently  original  and  constructive.  Yet  no 
one  can  rightly  estimate  his  system,  without  taking  into 


18 


account  his  personal  history,  the  scepticism  through  which 
he  fought  his  way,  his  Platonism,  the  preaching  of  Ambrose, 
the  traditions  of  the  Church,  the  errors  of  Manichaeism 
out  of  which  he  emerged  as  the  sun  from  clouds,  and 
those  of  Pelagianism,  which  lie  fought  with  an  invincible 
ardor  and  prowess.  He  was  a teacher  of  Literature  before 
he  was  a bishop.  Both  the  old  Empire  and  the  new  Society 
ministered  to  his  Christian  science.  He  knew  Paganism  so 
well  that  he  could  deal  it  a death-blow  ; the  Catholic  Church 
so  well  that  he  could  become  its  foremost  champion.  His 
De  Civitate  Dei , which  describes  the  origin,  progress,  and 
destiny  of  the  two  Cities  built  by  the  love  of  self  and  the  love 
of  God,  is  a noble  Apology  for  Christianity  on  the  basis  of  a 
comprehensive  Philosophy  of  History.  Or  take  the  father 
of  scholastic  theology,  the  saintly  Anselm.  No  one  could 
be  selected  from  the  middle  period  of  the  history  of  the 
church  whose  theological  influence  has  been  greater.  He 
stands  at  the  head  of  a powerful  movement,  yet  not  as  dis- 
connected with  the  past.  He  feels  constantly  the  influence 
of  Augustine.  He  elaborates  the  same  doctrine  of  faith  in 
the  spirit  of  that  teacher.  He  is  a master  of  what  was  known 
of  the  logic  of  Aristotle.  He  is  able  to  reproduce  and  recon- 
struct, because  he  has  appropriated  and  thoroughly  assimi- 
lated the  materials  previously  gathered.  He  is  the  theologian 
of  his  age,  in  part  because  he  knows  what  preceding  ages  have 
accomplished.  His  Monologium,  in  which  he  discusses  the 
doctrine  concerning  God,  and  his  Cur  Deus  Homo,  in  which 
he  discusses  the  Incarnation,  use  or  review  the  proofs  or 
theories  before  advanced.  Anselm  as  a young  man  quietly, 
diligently,  perseveringly,  working  in  the  library  of  the  mon- 
astery of  Bee  in  Normandy,  is  the  necessary  precursor  of 
Anselm  the  theologian. 

Or,  take  the  writings  of  Calvin  or  Edwards,  or  any  divine 
who  has  contributed  to  the  advancement  of  theology. 
Edwards,  we  are  told,  “ had  an  uncommon  thirst  for  knowl- 
edge, in  the  pursuit  of  which  he  spared  no  cost  nor  pains. 
He  read  all  the  books,  especially  books  treating  of  theology, 


14 


that  he  could  procure,  from  which  he  could  hope  to  derive 
any  assistance  in  the  discovery  of  truth.”  He  conceived  of 
Theology  as  a “ History  of  the  Work  of  Redemption , a body 
of  divinity  in  an  entire  new  method,  being  thrown  into  the 
form  of  a history.”  Original  and  prolific  as  was  his  mind 
the  substance  of  his  teaching  was  Calvinism,  as  that  of  Calvin 
was  dependent  on  Augustine.  Especially  is  this  historical 
dependence  evident  in  the  phraseology  of  public  Confessions 
or  Creeds  which  have  attained  to  general  symbolic  impor- 
tance. In  such  symbols  every  article  is  like  a battle-flag, 
every  important  word  is  an  inscription  of  some  victory. 

Now  if  our  systematic  Theology  is  thus  largely  a result  of 
the  past,  if  it  is  nourished  and  shaped  by  History,  and  is  just 
what  it  is  because  of  its  History,  it  is  unscientific  and  unwise 
to  think  we  can  appreciate  it  apart  from  this  History.  It  is 
not  an  isolated  thing.  It  is  not  an  absolutely  new  revelation. 
It  is  essentially  a growth,  and  should  be  studied  as  a growth. 

I have  assumed  thus  far  that  the  system  before  us  is  not 
only  the  latest,  but  the  best.  We  need,  however,  it  is  obvious, 
some  criteria  of  this,  some  power  as  well  of  judging  for  our- 
selves what  is  best.  Biblical  study  is  our  first  aid  and 
guarantee.  Philosophical  study,  also,  comes  to  our  help. 
For  every  theological  system  is  a product  of  two  factors, 
Scripture  and  Philosophy.  Historical  discipline  and  knowl- 
edge are  scarcely  less  needful.  I should  complicate  my 
argument,  perhaps,  too  much,  were  I to  dwell  on  the  fact 
that  Biblical  and  philosophical  study  to  aid  us  most  must 
each  be  in  part  historical.  Let  me  pursue  a more  direct 
method. 

Every  Christian  Doctrine  has  a certain  centre  of  gravitation. 
It  has  an  appointed  orbit,  or  course.  It  has  a necessary 
substance — an  essence.  Then  it  has  a great  many  other 
things  which  at  times  seem  necessary  to  it,  and  are  more  or 
less  intimately  related  to  it  or  serviceable  in  its  uses,  which 
are,  after  all,  not  essential  to  it.  It  has  a constant  element, 
and  a variable  element.  One  of  the  best  helps  in  finding  out 
what  is  necessary  to  it  and  what  is  not,  what  is  permanent 


15 


and  what  is  transitory,  is  to  trace  its  coarse  through  long 
periods  of  time,  through  revolutions  in  philosophy,  through 
mutations  of  systems.  Take  the  doctrine  of  Atonement. 
Various  theories  have  sprung  up  about  it,  and  have  had  great 
sway  over  men’s  minds,  and  then  have  lost  their  ascendency. 
Our  own  time  produces  them,  as  have  past  times.  You  have 
before  you  some  statement  which  claims  to  be  peculiarly 
meritorious.  Test  it  by  the  History  of  the  doctrine.  Probably 
what  seems  new  is  not  so  absolutely.  It  lias  had  already,  to 
a certain  extent  at  least,  a trial.  But  however  this  may  be, 
does  it  or  does  it  not  take  up  — at  any  rate  not  exclude  — 
what  a review  of  the  history  of  the  doctrine  shows  to  have 
been  a present  and  shaping  element  all  along  the  line  of  its 
progress  ? The  test  is  indeed  not  final.  There  is  no  infallible 
bar  of  opinion,  even  of  Christian  opinion.  But  there  is  a 
presumption  amounting  to  a moral  certainty,  that  a statement 
of  the  doctrine  which  excludes  what  can  be  discovered  to 
have  been,  through  the  past,  a constant  factor  in  it,  is  so  far 
a false  statement.  And  if  we  concede  a possibility  that  it  is 
not,  it  still  remains  true  that  he  only  can  understand  the 
true  nature  of  his  work  and  the  force  of  evidence  requisite 
to  make  this  possibility  an  actuality,  who  has  risen  to  an 
appreciation  of  the  fact  that  all  presumptions  are  against  him. 

It  may,  indeed,  be  said  that  when  we  attempt  to  find  such 
a common  consent,  or  such  a historic  centre  and  substance 
of  a doctrine,  we  are  not  likely  to  obtain  much  that  is  specific 
and  important.  The  fact  of  Christ’s  death  for  us,  it  may  be 
admitted,  has  been  credited,  but  the  philosophy  of  it  has  had 
no  fixed  form.  One  theory  has  supplanted  another  and  all 
have  shown  themselves  inadequate.  This  concedes  then, 
in  part,  what  I claim.  History  has  shown  the  impossibility 
of  a perfect  theory,  and  gives  you  therefore  a criterion  of 
the  new  philosopheme. 

But  I think  that  the  study  of  History,  which  is  what  I 
plead  for,  does  more.  There  are  elements  of  the  dogma  of 
Atonement  which  no  brilliant  speculations  have  been  able  to 
outshine ; which  no  scepticism  has  been  able  to  dim ; which 


16 


no  changes  in  ritual,  or  polity,  or  method  of  caring  for  souls, 
have  been  able  wholly  to  withdraw  from  Christian  teaching 
and  life.  Such  an  element  is  the  objective  relation  of  Christ’s 
death  on  the  cross  to  the  divine  forgiveness.  And  Christian 
history  stamps  and  seals  this  truth  as  something  not  likely 
ever  to  be  lost,  whatever  forms,  in  the  ages  to  come,  the  doc- 
trine may  assume. 

What  is  true  of  the  doctrine  of  Atonement  is  so  of  every 
other  article  of  our  faith.  It  has  a history  ; and  this  history 
reveals  what  is  permanent  and  essential,  and  so  far  affords  us 
aid  in  our  judgment  of  present  statements. 

Were  there  time  I would  dwell  also  on  the  advantage  in 
theological  study  of  a comparison  of  systems.  We  are  dis- 
covering that  much  may  be  gained  for  our  appreciation  of 
Christianity  by  regarding  it  both  in  its  likeness  and  its  un- 
likeness to  other  religions.  The  history  of  Theology  is  fruitful 
in  great  systems.  The  study  of  them  in  their  antagonisms, 
as  well  as  in  their  harmonies,  serves  to  bring  out  more 
sharply  and  definitely,  in  our  thinking,  as  well  as  more  fully, 
the  dogmatic  treasures  of  Christianity.  No  one  system, 
however  complete,  can  teach  us  as  much  as  we  can  learn 
respecting  the  same  system  by  studying  it  comparatively. 
We  are  impressed  by  such  study  with  the  importance  of 
theological  perspective  and  proportion, — how  an  excess  here, 
or  a defect  there,  may  so  change,  in  their  relations,  truths 
held  in  common,  as  to  produce  immense  differences  in  their 
practical  use. 

And  then  we  ought  always  to  remember  that  the  systems 
of  our  own  time  are,  in  part,  the  children  of  their  time. 
Theological  progress  betrays  constantly  a law  of  action  and 
reaction.  It  is  almost  inevitable  that  our  theological  think- 
ing, if  nourished  chiefly  by  the  products  of  our  day,  should 
share  in  their  imperfection.  So  far  as  this  culture  brings  us 
into  sympathy  with  our  own  age  it  fits  us  to  work  in  it,  and 
in  this  respect  it  is  of  advantage.  But  one-sidedness  begets 
the  same.  Symmetry  is  the  ideal  to  which  we  should  aspire. 
We  should  strive  to  correct  the  mistakes  of  the  past,  and  at  the 


17 


same  time  not  leave  as  many  for  those  to  lament  who  come 
after  us.  When  we  are  tempted  to  think  that  our  doctrine 
of  ability  is  indispensable  to  the  conversion  of  sinners,  it  is 
well  to  go  back  a century  and  see  how  in  Whitefield’s  and 
Wesley’s  hands  an  older  doctrine  of  inability  was  fruitful  in 
mighty  revivals.  Time  is  ever  equalizing  and  supplement- 
ing. And  when  we  think  that  all  the  power  of  the  Gospel 
has  been  put  into  a certain  statement,  it  is  very  useful  to 
hear  the  calm  voice  of  History  say  to  us:  Your  statement 
is  only  a half-truth,  and  the  Gospel  is  much  greater  than 
you  have  imagined. 

So  far  as  History  is  an  aid  in  theological  study  it  is  of 
service  to  the  preacher.  Its  relation  to  the  Pulpit  deserves, 
however,  to  be  directly  treated.  I remark,  then,  secondly : 

II.  The  study  of  the  History  of  Christianity  is  indispensa- 
ble to  the  most  effective  presentation  of  its  claims . History 
is  as  important  to  the  preacher  and  missionary  as  to  the 
theologian. 

God’s  chosen  method  of  addressing  men  is  largely  through 
History.  The  recorded  discourses  of  inspired  Apostles  are 
no  less  historical  in  form  than  doctrinal  in  substance.  Read 
Demosthenes’  Orations,  and  see  what  an  element  of  power  is 
his  use  of  History ; how  this  shapes  and  clothes  and  vivifies 
his  argument ; what  electric  power  it  gave  to  his  appeals. 

The  great  work  of  the  preacher  is  persuasion.  Persuasion 
requires  argument.  History  gives  the  most  effective  logic, 
the  logic  of  facts.  Rites,  doctrines,  rules  of  life,  methods  of 
missionary  labor,  these  have  been  already,  and  on  a large 
scale,  tried.  Truth  and  error  have  borne  their  fruits.  These 
are  now  secure,  attested,  palpable  facts.  They  can  be  seen, 
handled,  and  shown  to  men.  Here  is  a great  source  of 
argument  for  the  Pulpit.  History  never  exactly  repeats 
herself.  Yet  the  same  principles  which  the  Christian  minister 
now  receives  from  Christ  and  His  Apostles  have  been  working 
in  the  world  for  eighteen  centuries.  By  their  fruits  they  are 
known  and  they  are  justified.  Error,  too,  has  run  its  course. 

3 


18 


Compromising  statements,  partial  statements,  as  well  as  false 
ones,  have  shown  their  defectiveness  and  their  weakness. 
The  illusions  and  delusions  of  an  age  are  not  wholly  new  in 
principle.  A knowledge  of  the  past  not  only  makes  the  eye 
keen  to  detect  them,  it  makes  the  hand  strong  that  strikes  at 
them.  It  is  a growing  illusion  of  our  time  that  the  Pulpit 
has  nothing  to  do  with  Dogma,  unless  to  denounce  it.  This 
assumes  a very  specious  form  at  times.  Good  men,  as  well 
as  weak  men,  are  saying  with  Erasmus  and  Dean  Colet : Keep 
to  the  Bible  and  the  Apostles’  Creed  ; and  let  divines,  if  they 
like,  dispute  about  the  rest.  There  was  good  sense  in  this 
watchword  when  Theology,  long  divorced  from  fresh  study  of 
the  Scriptures,  was  a decaying  scholasticism.  There  is 
reason  in  it  always,  when  Theology  in  the  preacher’s  head  is 
merely  a scientific  system.  But  History  tells  us  unmis- 
takably that  no  permanent  evangelizing,  or  even  reformatory, 
work  among  the  masses  can  be  effected  without  the  agency  of 
strong,  clear,  profound  dogmatic  convictions  and  statements. 
History  can  save  her  votary  from  the  folly  of  ignoring  or 
depreciating  Dogma.  It  can  also  help  him  save  others  from 
such  foolishness. 

Take  the  dogma  of  the  Trinity.  It  is  not  formally  stated 
in  the  Scriptures.  It  is  a mystery.  The  more  we  think  of 
it  the  more  unsearchable  it  appears.  Every  attempt  to  state 
it  and  to  make  it  an  article  of  a Creed,  has  produced  con- 
troversy and  given  offence.  Let  the  Church  then,  it  is  urged, 
cease  to  confess  it,  and  let  the  Pulpit  be  silent  about  it.  If 
you  are  seeking  to  convert  a soul  you  will  not  trouble  it 
with  questions  about  Hypostases.  So  men  are  reasoning. 

One  way  to  meet  such  a state  of  mind  is,  to  show  historically 
how  the  doctrine  sprang  by  a sort  of  logical  and  historical 
necessity  from  the  same  source  as  our  Apostles’  Creed  and 
our  New  Testament  itself,  — that  is,  from  the  Apostolic 
Preaching  and  the  Baptismal  Confession ; to  show,  still 
further,  the  practical  religious  motive  and  interest  which 
mainly  determined  the  Ancient  Church  in  resisting  all 
attempts  to  detract  from  the  honor  due  the  Son  as  the  divine 


19 


Redeemer  of  mankind  ; how  religious  life,  in  proportion  as  it 
becomes  disconnected  with  this  doctrine,  loses  its  inspiration 
and  its  achieving  power  ; and  how,  out  of  the  great  truth 
of  Christ’s  Divinity,  and  his  co-equality  with  the  Father,  as 
from  a celestial  fountain,  have  flowed  streams  that  to-day  are 
bringing  life  to  the  nations. 

Or  take  another  dogma.  I will  call  it  Augustinianism,  or 
Calvinism,  or  any  other  hard  name  you  please  — except 
Arminianism.  It  is  very  much  spoken  against  just  now. 
Like  the  Bible  itself,  men  seem  not  to  be  able  to  let  it  alone. 
Its  essence  is  the  Efficacy  of  prevenient  Grace.  This  is  not  a 
pulpit  phrase.  I use  it  for  brevity,  and  mindful  that  I am 
addressing  theologians.  Under  this,  or  other  names  — less 
technical  but  more  Biblical  — this  doctrine  has  had  a long 
history  in  preaching.  Some  chapters  of  this  history  show 
its  abuse ; how  it  has  been  misused,  and  put  into  false  rela- 
tions, and  variously  perverted  in  application.  Shall  we, 
therefore,  give  it  up  ? Shall  we  say,  It  is  a dogma  ; let  it  go  ; 
let  us  keep  to  the  facts  of  the  Apostles’  Creed.  If  you 
incline  to  this,  study  it  in  its  History.  See  what  fruit  it  has 
borne.  See  what  errors  come  in  when  it  is  lost  sight  of,  or 
comes  not  to  its  rights  in  the  thinking  of  an  age. 

A very  interesting  and  instructive  volume  has  recently 
been  published  on  the  Oxford  Reformers  — Colet,  Erasmus, 
and  More.  They  are  put  forward  as  opponents  of  dogma,  as 
apostles  of  the  method  of  adhering  to  facts,  as  rejecters  of 
Scholasticism  and  Augustinianism.  The  writer’s  task  is 
ably  done.  But  one  is  struck  with  a difficulty  which  the 
author  himself  suggests,  — “ the  fact  that  all  the  chief  reac- 
tions against  Scholasticism — those  of  Wickliffe,  Huss,  Luther, 
Calvin,  the  Port  Royalists,  the  Puritans,  the  modern  Evan- 
gelicals— were  Augustinian  reactions”;  the  further  fact 
that  the  labors  of  these  reformers  have  been  marvellously 
effective,  while  those  of  Erasmus  and  Colet  and  More,  in 
what  was  'peculiar  to  them,  have  sunk  into  almost  complete 
oblivion. 

History  affirms  the  necessity  of  dogmas.  It  is  also  a judge 


20 


of  dogmas.  It  shows  that  some  dogmas  have  in  them  the 
seeds  of  reform,  of  mighty  deeds  of  heroism  and  self-denial. 
By  such  arguments  let  the  preacher  keep  his  hearers  from 
ignoring  or  rejecting  them.  Let  him  show  what  life  there 
is  in  them. 

Beside  the  logic  there  is  in  history,  there  is  also  an  effective 
rhetoric.  History  enables  the  preacher  to  put  abstract  truth 
into  the  forms  of  experience  and  life.  The  predominance  of 
Dogmatic  Theology  in  the  past  training  of  New  England 
ministers  made  their  preaching,  at  times,  too  abstract  and 
formal ; not  too  doctrinal,  — for  what,  in  the  last  analysis 
is  to  be  preached,  if  not  doctrine,  — but  too  much  wedded 
to  a particular  mode  of  stating  doctrine,  the  method  of  theo- 
logical science.  We  are  experiencing  somewhat  of  a reaction 
from  this.  The  growing  tendency  to  introduce  anecdotes 
and  items  of  religious  experience,  and  of  much  that  is  not 
religious  experience,  is  a symptom  of  this.  One  source  of 
relief — and,  indeed,  the  main  one  — must  be  a fresh  recur- 
rence to  the  Scriptures.  Truth  must  be  presented  in  Biblical 
forms,  as  these  obtain  new  vividness  to  the  preacher’s  mind 
by  his  own  personal  contact  with  them  and  the  best  helps  of 
modern  culture.  Of  these  new  aids  the  historical  study  of 
the  Scriptures  is  specially  serviceable.  But,  in  addition,  the 
preacher  should  make  large  use  of  the  Bible  as  it  has  been 
translating  through  the  centuries  into  human  lives.  It  would 
commonly  be  a much  safer  way  of  illustrating  the  realities 
of  the  kingdom  of  heaven  to  draw  from  the  sifted  facts  and 
the  completed  experiences  History  records  than  from  the  too 
often  merely  sensational  stories  of  the  newspaper.  The 
relations  of  Christianity  to  the  institutions  and  morals  of 
nations . — its  influence  upon  the  family,  upon  education, 
xipon  politics  -r-  in  successive  and  lengthened  periods  furnish 
inexhaustible  themes  of  reflection  and  instruction,  and  take 
the  mind  out  of  the  realm  of  the  abstract  into  that  of  con- 
crete and  actual  life.  And  then  there  is  the  long  history  of 
Christian  experience  and  life  recorded  in  confessions  and 
martyrdoms,  in  inspiring  and  heroic  achievements,  in  hymns 


21 


and  missals  and  breviaries  and  Imitations  of  Christ,  and  in 
volume  upon  volume  of  letters  and  dialogues  and  soliloquies 
and  itineraries,  in  which  we  see  how  men  of  like  passions 
with  ourselves  and  those  whom  as  pastors  we  would  guide  to 
heaven,  overcame  the  world,  and  won  their  crowns.  And  all 
this  wealth  of  experience  is  transmitted  to  us  for  our  use, 
that  every  truth  of  Scripture,  as  we  preach  it,  may  be  seen 
already  to  have  had  its  incarnation  and  demonstration. 

This  history  of  Christian  life  is,  indeed,  too  much  as  yet 
an  unwritten  one.  Our  Church  Histories,  until  Neander’s, 
told  us  much  more  of  the  extension  of  Christianity  and  of 
the  rites  of  the  Church  and  of  its  science,  than  of  its  inward 
life.  There  is  here  a noble  field  for  fresh  culture.  Yet  the 
storehouses  which  are  accessible  are  by  no  means  empty. 
Neander’s  Memorials  of  Christian  Life  and  his  General 
History,  Dean  Milman’s  Latin  Christianity,  Mr.  Lecky’s 
History  of  European  Morals,  Montalembert’s  Monks  of  the 
West  and  Ullmann’s  Reformers  before  the  Reformation, 
D’Aubigne’s  Reformation,  Dr.  Stoughton’s  Ecclesiastical 
History  of  England,  Dr.  Palfrey’s  History  of  New  England, 
Rev.  G.  F.  Maclear’s  History  of  Christian  Missions  during 
the  Middle  Ages  and  Dr.  Anderson’s  volumes  on  the  Missions 
of  the  American  Board,  Dr.  Stevens’s  History  of  Methodism 
— these  familiar  works,  and  others  which  will  readily  occur 
to  you,  suggest  the  copiousness  of  the  literature.  What  im- 
pressive illustrations  of  Christian  piety,  and  of  the  influence 
of  the  Gospel  on  individual  character  and  social  institutions, 
are  here  at  hand.  A diligent  student  may  now  gather 
treasures  in  this  field  that  will  enrich  and  invigorate  his 
entire  ministry.  Indeed,  to  appropriate  a thought  from  Dean 
Stanley,  almost  any  text  you  are  likely  to  preach  from  lias 
already  received  its  commentary  in  some  Christian  society 
or  life.  64  Look,”  he  says,  44  through  any  famous  passage  of 
the  Old,  or  yet  more  of  the  New,  Testament.  There  is  hardly 
one  that  has  not  borne  fruit  in  the  conversion  of  some  great 
saint,  or  in  the  turn  it  has  given  to  some  great  event.  At  a 
single  precept  of  the  Gospels  Antony  went  his  way  and  sold 


22 


all  that  he  had  ; at  a single  warning  of  the  Epistles  Augus- 
tine’s hard  heart  was  melted  beneath  the  fig-tree  at  Milan ; 
a single  chapter  of  Isaiah  made  a penitent  believer  of  the 
profligate  Rochester.  A word  to  St.  Peter  has  become  the 
stronghold  of  the  Papacy  J a word  from  St.  Paul  has  become 
the  stronghold  of  Luther.  The  Psalter  alone,  by  its  manifold 
applications  and  uses  in  after  times,  is  a vast  palimpsest, 
written  over  and  over  again,  illuminated,  illustrated,  by 
every  conceivable  incident  and  emotion  of  men  and  of  nations ; 
battles,  wanderings,  dangers,  escapes,  death-beds,  obsequies 
of  many  ages  and  countries  rise,  or  may  rise,  to  our  view  as 
we  read  it.” 

Such  a use  by  a preacher  of  the  treasures  of  History  will 
lend  constant  freshness  to  his  sermonizing.  Freshness  is 
the  capital  of  a preacher  at  the  beginning  of  his  ministry. 
It  is  the  secret  of  the  relish  the  churches  have  for  young 
men.  The  problem  for  you  is  how  to  keep  this  capital  un- 
wasted. One  needs  to  draw  from  full,  deep  fountains.  The 
wells  of  History  are  such.  Sometimes  it  is  thought  that  the 
early  advantage  which  won  so  easily  a call  can  be  maintained 
by  a change  of  parish.  But  if  a man  has  not  grown  in  his 
first  settlement,  and  kept  his  freshness  by  the  power  of  his 
inward  life,  the  second  call  comes  much  more  slowly  and 
faintly  and  doubtfully  than  the  first.  There  is  a presumption 
against  a man  that  wants  to  try  a new  place.  He  finds  that 
his  old  sermons  do  not  “take”  so  well,  now  that  the  white 
hairs  begin  to  show  themselves,  as  when  the  freshness  of  his 
thought  and  his  countenance  together  had  an  unspeakable 
charm  for  the  sympathetic. 

A minister  of  the  Gospel  is  looked  up  to  as  a guide  of 
public  opinion  on  questions  of  religious  truth,  of  morals,  and 
of  Christian  enterprise.  He  has  the  position  and  responsi- 
bilities of  a leader.  With  ardor  and  enthusiasm  and  an 
open  eye  for  new  opportunities  of  usefulness  and  improved 
methods  of  teaching  and  working,  how  much  wisdom  he  needs 
to  bring  his  work  into  living  connection  with  what  is  true 
and  right  and  helpful  in  existing  beliefs  and  methods. 


23 


If  a gardener  or  mechanic  wishes  to  continue  a line  lie  steps 
back  until  he  can  obtain  two  fixed  points,  and  then  he  can 
settle  a third  in  advance.  There  is  a line  of  progress  in 
Christian  theology  and  for  the  church.  There  is  a normal 
advance  in  the  statement  of  doctrines.  There  is  a main  cur- 
rent, having  a predetermined  course,  in  the  development  of  the 
life  of  the  church.  It  is  by  going  back  on  the  line  of  progress 
that  a point  in  advance  is  to  be  secured.  It  is  by  ascertain- 
ing the  main  drift  of  past  thought  and  living  that  we  best 
understand  the  setting  of  present  currents,  and  learn  in  which 
direction  the  stream  must  flow  in  time  to  come.  This  is 
commonly  one  mark  of  the  difference  between  a real  improve- 
ment in  theological  statement  and  the  beginning  of  heresy. 
The  one  is  a more  determinate  and  explicit  enunciation 
of  what  had  all  along  been  implied  in  the  faith  of  the  church. 
The  other  is  an  error,  a wandering  away,  a departure  into 
some  side  path.  One  of  the  most  eminent  and  successful 
inventors  of  this  most  inventive  age  once  remarked,  that  his 
inventions  had  always  been  the  fruit  of  this  method.  He  first 
clearly  defined  to  his  mind  what  was  the  need  to  be  supplied, 
and  then  considered  how  it  was  to  be  supplied.  It  is  in  the 
same  way  that  Christian  knowledge  and  piety  are  promoted  : 
by  carefully  learning  what  deficiencies  exist  in  present  modes 
of  apprehending  God’s  word,  or  of  defending  it  against 
assault,  or  of  enforcing  its  claims.  We  learn  this  largely 
through  History.  For  History  reveals  the  great  necessities  of 
man ; tests  the  measures  that  have  been  proposed  ; and  puts 
us  upon  the  only  successful  way  of  suggesting  more  appro- 
priate treatment.  A pastor  does  not  know  how  to  deal  wisely 
even  with  an  individual  member  of  his  parish  until  he  learns 
something  of  his  history. 

And  this  brings  me  to  my  closing  remark  : 

III.  The  study  of  the  History  of  the  Church  is  fitted  to 
develop  in  the  ministry  personal  qualities  indispensable  to  its 
highest  influence . 

In  a discourse  pronounced  upon  the  occasion  of  his  inau- 


24 


guration  as  Professor  of  Ecclesiastical  History  in  this  Semi- 
nary, Dr.  Sliedd  eloquently  eulogized  the  influence  of  the 
historic  spirit  in  imparting  to  the  mind  qualities  which  are 
apt  to  be  dissevered,  but  which  are  necessary  complements 
one  to  the  other ; such  as  reverence  and  vigilance,  modera- 
tion and  enthusiasm,  catholicity  and  decision  of  opinion.1 
One  may  sum  the  result  up  in  Symmetry  of  character. 

Without  venturing  into  territory  which  has  been  thus 
possessed  by  a sort  of  right  of  eminent  domain,  I will  notice 
a few  individual  effects  upon  ministerial  character  which  the 
study  of  the  History  of  the  Church  is  adapted  to  produce. 
One  of  these  results  is  Breadth . 

Experience  shows  that  the  influence  of  an  exclusive  or 
predominant  dogmatic  training  is  unfriendly  to  catholicity. 
Certain  qualities  it  produces  which  are  of  fundamental  im- 
portance, such  as  clearness,  positiveness,  firmness,  intensity 
of  mental  conviction.  But  unbalanced,  it  yields,  also,  dog- 
matism — a forgetfulness  of  how  much  of  a system  so  high 
and  deep  and  broad  as  Christianity  cannot  be  taken  up  into  the 
definitions  and  propositions  of  science.  Christianity  is  greater 
than  any  or  all  of  our  systems.  It  is  the  wisdom  and  power 
of  God.  It  has  an  inexhaustible  fulness  of  truth  and 
motive  power.  It  is  a system,  and  is  to  be  systematically 
studied.  The  holiest  mysteries  of  faith  are  truths  of  the 
divine  reason,  and  may  be  more  and  more  apprehended  by 
human  reason.  Yet  it  is  great,  and  we  cannot  compass  it ; it 
is  high,  and  we  cannot  attain  unto  it.  We  have  to  confess 
this  of  the  whole  effort  of  the  race.  All  the  systems  ever 
made  do  not  contain  it.  We  can  only  make  approximations. 
The  traveller  among  the  Alps  finds  constantly  about  him 
objects  of  such  magnitude  that  only  after  considerable  expe- 
rience, and  the  toil  of  ascending  to  the  highest  elevations, 
can  he  form  any  adequate  conception  of  the  different  ranges, 
and  their  relations  to  each  other.  His  eye  is  filled  with  the 
serrated  and  piercing  ridge  of  Pilatus.  He  is  lost  in  amaze- 
ment beneath  the  beetling  cliffs  and  soaring  pinnacle  of  the 
1 Bibliotheca  Sacra,  Vol.  xi.  p.  352  sq. 


25 


Wetterhorn.  The  Jungfrau  lifts  her  snowy  summit  to  the 
skies,  and  lie  seems  to  have  seen  nothing  before.  He  identi- 
fies twenty  or  thirty  Mont  Blancs  before  the  mountain  king 
reveals  his  glittering  crown.  Each  individual  object  is 
enough,  for  the  time,  to  absorb  attention.  It  is  so  in  Chris- 
tianity. Each  separate  doctrine  is  enough  to  task  all  our 
powers.  So  long  as  we  are  before  it,  it  bounds  the  horizon. 
We  may  see  all  of  God’s  government  in  Decrees  and  Pre- 
destination, and  think  this  the  highest  peak.  We  may  look 
at  certain  facts  and  regard  them  as  a Covenant,  and  from 
this  elevation  obtain  a wide  survey  over  God’s  kingdom. 
But  when  the  mists  rise  we  shall  see  a yet  nobler  range, 
even  though  we  are  on  the  highest  peak  in  a theological 
Ober-Land.  And  if  we  press  on  to  master  this,  many  a 
summit  will  rise  upon  our  view  ; heaven  and  earth  will 
often  have  seemed  to  meet,  ere  we  see  the  King  in  His 
glory.  Christ  is  above  all.  Our  task,  as  Clement  of  Alex- 
andria long  ago  said,  is  to  throw  ourselves  into  His  greatness. 
And  as  no  one  man  can  measure  from  any  one  point  of  view 
all  the  Alps,  so  no  one  mind  or  system  can  give  us  all  that 
may  be  known  of  Christianity. 

That  we  may  be  helped,  therefore,  most  efficiently  in  its 
study,  we  need  profoundly,  patiently,  perseveringly,  to  observe 
its  unfolding  in  the  world  in  its  diversified  relations,  to  mark 
its  effects  on  character,  on  society,  on  civilization ; on  morals 
and  manners ; on  science  and  philosophy ; on  education  and 
the  family  ; on  law  and  discipline  ; on  commerce  and  the  use- 
ful arts  ; on  music  and  poetry  and  architecture,  and  all  human 
and  humane  sentiments  and  powers.  History  is  something 
which  touches  and  interests  us  at  every  point,  and  in  every 
susceptibility  of  our  complex  being.  We  "exist  under  its  law 
as  really  as  under  the  law  of  gravitation.  Every  thought, 
affection,  purpose  of  which  we  are  conscious  is  influenced 
by  what  others  before  us  have  said  or  done.  The  loneliest 
palm  of  the  desert  springs  from  some  seed  that  another  palm 
has  ripened,  and  only  grows  by  moisture  from  the  skies 
and  nutriment  from  the  sands.  The  most  solitary  of  human 
4 


26 


beings  stands  in  indissoluble  connection  with  the  past.  He 
is  a member  of  a race.  In  countless  ways  he  is  linked  in  with 
the  long  succession.  It  is  this  great,  broad,  human  interest 
of  History  which  has  made  it  a constant  element  of  literature, 
of  poetry  and  eloquence,  of  government  and  religion.  “It 
was,  ” says  a learned  and  pleasing  writer  on  the  Uses  of  His- 
tory as  a Study1,  “ it  was  an  early  amusement : Achilles,  in 
Homer,  is  introduced  singing  to  his  harp,  the  glorious  deeds 
of  former  heroes ; and  few  nations  are  so  uncultivated  as  not 
to  possess  some  means  of  recording  their  deeds ; none  are  so 
dull  as  to  listen  to  these  records  without  curiosity,  without 
interest,  without  delight.  The  love  of  History  is  as  insepar- 
able from  human  nature  as  the  love  of  fame.  Hence  the 
cairn,  the  Runic  song,  the  knotted  threads  of  the  South 
American  savage.”  Hence,  too,  the  storied  monuments  of 
Egypt  and  Nineveh,  sagas  from  the  halls  of  Scandinavia, 
myths  of  Hellas  and  legends  of  Rome,  ballads  of  the 
merry  days  of  England’s  youth,  epics  of  the  olden  time, 
and  chronicles  and  sober  histories  of  later  date,  — all  alike 
testifying  that  History  treats  of  something  which  comes 
home  to  men’s  bosoms  and  firesides,  and  enters  into  each 
one’s  life. 

But  this  human  interest  of  History  culminates  in  religious 
History,  as  does  religious  in  Christian  History.  It  is  as  a re- 
ligious being  that  man  is  distinguished  from  and  is  elevated 
above  the  rest  of  the  creation.  It  is  in  his  religious  life  that 
he  rises  above  the  conditions  of  infirmity  and  weakness,  of 
decay  and  death,  and  takes  hold  on  eternity,  and  is  seen  to  be 
but  little  lower  than  the  angels.  Even  in  their  most  corrupted 
forms,  his  religious  convictions  have  manifestly  raised  him 
above  the  brutes  that  perish.  And  in  estimating  the  civiliza- 
tions that  have  gained  ascendency  it  is  his  idea  of  the  divinity 
that  has  ruled  him,  his  practical  understanding  of  the  divine 
government,  and  his  sense  of  religious  obligation,  by  which 
we  finally  measure  and  judge  their  worth  and  power. 

But  of  all  religious  History  the  most  important,  the  most 

1 Encycl.  Metropol.,  ix,  p.  15. 


27 


noble,  the  most  attractive,  is  that  which  narrates  the  Progress 
of  the  Kingdom  of  God.  This  Kingdom  may  be  said  to  have 
existed  from  the  beginning  of  human  history.  We  may  trace 
it  back  to  the  first  promise  of  a Saviour.  Its  antagonism 
to  the  world  appears  in  the  earliest  recorded  events.  Its 
conflict  gives  the  sum  and  substance,  the  pith  and  marrow, 
of  all  succeeding  history.  And  what  other  history  has  such 
elements  of  interest  ? Its  factors  are  both  divine  and  human  : 
and  these  are  seen  to  be  not  merely  conjoined,  but  united  — 
human  freedom  becoming  real  in  working  out  the  plan  of  In- 
finite wisdom  in  communion  with  its  Author ; human  agency 
accomplishing  a divine  purpose  with  the  certainty  of  destiny, 
yet  without  compulsion.  We  discover  not  merely  a Divine 
Providence  over  men,  but  God  himself,  in  Word  and  Proph- 
ecy, in  Incarnation  and  by  his  Holy  Spirit,  entering  into  the 
historic  course,  its  Source  and  its  Goal.  We  see  this  his- 
toric course  working  itself  out  through  ages  of  conflict  and 
the  most  earnest  human  living,  not  in  one  department  merely 
of  human  thought  and  action,  but  in  all  the  spheres  of  life, 
so  that  in  the  mighty  movement  everything  that  lias  a human 
interest  is  taken  up  and  glorified  — this  is  the  scope  and  the 
importance  of  the  subject.  There  are,  in  universal  life,  no 
other  conflicts  like  those  of  the  Church  ; no  heroes  like  hers  ; 
no  victories,  no  story  of  human  passion,  of  love  or  hate,  of 
life  or  death,  so  full  of  instruction,  or  of  so  deep  and  tragic 
power.  If  the  History  of  the  Church  is  best  narrated  by  itself, 
it  is  only,  it  has  well  been  said,  that  we  may  discern  thus  its 
individual  and  specific  character.  But  when  this  is  discovered 
we  find  ourselves  at  a centre  of  light,  from  which  we  may 
survey  the  whole  field  of  human  History. 

This  breadth  of  the  study  — though  it  may  dismay  spirits 
that  have  lost  the  sense  of  their  birthright  as  the  heirs  of 
eternity  — is  its  charm  and  glory  to  those  who,  like  Plato  in 
the  realm  of  mind,  or  Kepler  among  the  stars,  or  Agassiz 
ranging  through  all  the  orders  of  animal  life,  aspire,  on  this 
loftier  level  of  spiritual  and  Christian  science,  to  think  after 
Him  the  thoughts  of  God.  And  I know  of  no  study  so  fitted 
to  enlarge  the  soul. 


28 


If  there  were  time  I would  like  to  pursue  this  matter  into 
details  — to  suggest  the  value  to  the  preacher  of  learning  to 
think  other  men’s  thoughts  after  them,  and  so  of  gaining  the 
power  fairly  to  state  opinions  different  from  his  own.  Lawyers 
gain  a breadth  and  fairness  in  discussion  which  ministers 
need  discipline  in  order  to  secure.  A protracted  analytic 
review,  as  a required  part  of  ministerial  education,  of  the 
opinions  which  have  been  held  respecting  any  Christian 
doctrine,  is  an  admirable  regimen  for  a mind  that  is  narrow 
in  its  judgments  and  hasty  in  its  conclusions.  We  do  not, 
moreover,  understand  any  man,  until  somewhat  sympathet- 
ically we  have  lived  through  his  history.  We  are  not  at  our 
best  in  helping  him.  History  trains  us  in  going  beyond  our- 
selves and  entering  into  other  lives. 

Especially  is  it  through  the  right  study  of  History  that  the 
narrow  theological  prejudices,  the  partisan  strifes,  the  secta- 
rian controversies,  which  have  disfigured  our  religious  history, 
are  to  be  abated.  Nothing,  indeed,  but  the  might  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  can  remove  these  great  evils.  But  among  the  agencies 
which  he  employs,  in  addition  to  that  of  the  written  word,  no 
one  is  more  powerful  and  hopeful  than  the  broad  and  faithful 
study  of  the  History  of  the  Church  — a study  begun  by  the 
ministry  of  the  land  before  opinions  are  fully  formed  and 
sides  are  taken,  and  prosecuted  even  amid  the  shock  and 
raging  of  the  battle.  We  have  been  said  to  have  all  the  sects 
in  this  country,  and  all  the  controversies,  save  those  which 
spring  from  the  union  of  Church  and  State.  Whatever 
may  be  thought  as  to  the  best  theoretical  adjustment  of  the 
relations  of  these  two  societies,  or  aspects  of  society,  it 
cannot  be  doubted  that  practically,  and  as  the  world  is,  we 
have  great  advantages  for  religious  unity  in  our  freedom 
from  the  seductions  and  entanglements  of  secular  policy  and 
power,  of  statecraft  and  political  chicanery,  and  in  the  facility 
with  which  those  who  agree  in  essential  principles  may 
co-operate.  Therefore  should  we  give  the  more  earnest  heed 
that  in  discussing  the  things  of  the  kingdom  of  God  we 
improve  our  more  favorable  opportunities  by  endeavoring  to 


29 


promote  the  conciliation  of  theological  strifes  and  sectarian 
animosities,  and  the  coming  of  the  day  when  the  watchmen 
shall  see  eye  to  eye.  'As  we  review  the  past  it  will  be  our 
own  fault  if  we  do  not  gain  clearer  views  of  what  is  per- 
manent in  Christianity,  and  what  is  accidental  and  transitory  ; 
if  we  do  not  secure  a firmer  tread  upon  soil  we  will  not 
abandon  but  with  our  lives,  and  if  we  do  not  equally  learn 
to  be  more  patient  with  the  weak  in  faith,  and  more  charitable 
to  men  whose  opinions  differ  from  our  own ; if  we  do  not 
grow  in  the  conviction  that  divine  truth  is  attainable  and  of 
infinite  worth,  and  no  less  in  the  conviction  that  our  highest 
attainments  are  but  partial  glimpses  of  a glory  that  excelletli. 

Another  effect  of  patient  and  protracted  study  of  History 
which  I desire  to  notice  is,  Repose  of  spirit. 

A leader  should  be  calm.  He  should  have  great  strength 
of  conviction,  stability  of  mind,  a willingness  to  bide  his 
time,  and  superiority  to  action  in  a flurry  or  heat.  He  should 
have  the  ages  for  his  ministers  and  attendants.  There  comes 
into  the  mind  that  has  long  meditated  on  the  ways  of  God 
with  men  — that  has  reflected  on  the  length  of  time,  and  the 
shortness  of  a single  life  — a superiority  to  the  noise  and 
alarms  and  petty  anxieties  and  vain  ambitions  of  a less 
cultured  soul  which  is  something,  to  a Christian  minister,  of 
inestimable  value.  Its  possession  is  worth  many  a vigil.  If 
it  were  apathy  or  quietism,  it  were  an  injury,  rather  than  a 
benefit.  But  it  is  not.  It  is  strength  to  labor.  It  is  what 
the  minister  often  needs  more,  and  finds  harder  to  secure  — 
strength  to  endure  and  to  persevere. 

History  takes  us  from  our  balancings  and  disquietudes, 
when  first  we  discover  that  everything  in  Theology  can  be 
disputed,  and  is  disputed,  and  shows  us  some  things  stable 
and  fixed,  through  the  centuries,  as  the  pillars  of  God’s 
throne.  It  carries  us  to  other  ages,  when  all  the  prospects 
of  the  Church,  to  human  view,  were  darker  than  now,  and 
shows  how  easy  and  how  natural  it  had  been  then  to  be  de- 
spondent, and  how  foolish.  The  empire  will  not  see  another 
Canossa,  said  Bismarck,  and  Europe  was  electrified.  The 


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Church,  we  may  believe,  will  not  see  another  century  like 
the  tenth. 

And  then,  what  companionships  History  makes  for  us. 
The  pastor  among  the  hills  of  Vermont,  or  in  the  far  West 
— remote  from  the  centres  of  thought  and  life,  ministering  to 
the  same  people  week  in  and  week  out  — how  shall  he  keep 
up  the  growth  begun  under  the  stimulus  of  associates  and 
teachers  and  libraries  ? How  shall  his  need  of  companion- 
ship not  draw  him  more  and  more  down  to  the  level  of  those 
whose  tastes  and  culture  and  range  of  thinking  and  life  have 
been  prescribed  by  conditions  so  different  from  his  own, — 
how,  when  his  primary  duty  is  to  enter  into  their  lives,  that 
he  may  be  their  helper?  Yet  if  he  would  lift  them  up,  he 
must  stand  above  them.  How  shall  lie  raise  them,  and  rise 
himself?  He  will  not  do  it  without  great  effort  — effort 
which  requires  constant  stimulus  from  outside  of  his  par- 
ish and  the  immediate  demands  of  his  charge.  He  must 
walk  at  times  with  princes.  He  must  have  companionships 
which  will  more  than  prove  a substitute  for  those  of  the 
lecture-room  and  the  debating-hall.  Let  Athanasius  tell 
him  what  imperial  qualities  should  be  his  who  would  train 
the  heirs  of  a kingdom.  Let  Augustine  show  him  how  every 
voice  of  nature  is  a witness  and  symbol  of  One  that  is  above 
nature.  Let  the  cloud  of  witnessess  gather  about  him  as  he 
speaks  in  faithfulness  what  an  unbelieving  generation  cares 
not  to  hear.  Let  him  have,  blending  ever  with  his  own  indi- 
viduality, the  larger  consciousness  of  his  corporate  member- 
ship in  the  state  and  empire  of  Him  who  has  overcome  the 
world,  and  sits  expecting  till  all  His  enemies  are  vanquished. 
Such  a man  will  never  rust  out,  nor  fade  out,  nor  be  worried 
out.  He  will  have  something  of  the  calmness  of  the  eye 
that  sees  the  end  from  the  beginning. 

And  — one  other  thought  — he  will  have  a growing  sense 
of  the  exceeding  greatness  and  glory  of  Christ . 

This  long-drawn  conflict  is  but  a disclosure  of  the  riches 
of  His  infinite  patience  and  fidelity  and  love  and  power. 
Every  martyr’s  death,  every  conquest  of  selfishness,  every 


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victory  of  right  is  a witness  to  His  sacrifice  and  His  reign. 
The  Christian  centuries  sweep  by  us  as  the  train  of  His 
garment  as  he  ascends  His  throne.  From  the  morning  of 
creation  His  many  crowns  have  been  gathering  splendor  — 
through  all  the  generations,  in  the  years  of  humiliation,  in 
the  hours  of  triumph — from  each  ransomed  soul. 

This  is  my  crowning  argument  — and  it  needs  no  elabora- 
tion — the  History  of  the  Church  is  to  him  who  reads  aright 
a continued  evangel  of  that  Incarnate  Word,  who,  in  Gali- 
lee and  Judaea,  in  the  significant  phrase  of  Luke,  began  both 
to  do  and  teach,  and  who  withdrew  from  earth  only  more 
efficiently  to  be  with  His  Church  to  the  end  of  time. 

But  now,  of  this  Lecture,  as  Augustine  says  of  his  En- 
chiridion, there  must  be  an  end  at  last. 

I do  not  ask  you  to  do  with  my  reasons  for  the  study 
anything  more  than  consider  and  weigh  them.  But  as  to 
the  study  itself,  I would  say : Pursue  it,  at  whatever  cost, 
and  you  will  have  more  reasons  for  it  than  you  will  ever 
have  time  to  analyze  and  classify  and  put  into  writing,  even 
if  you  should  be  blessed  with  a lifetime  longer  than  Methu- 
selah’s. 


